Upon slaying an enemy with the Half-Zatoichi: the blade becomes decorated in blood, and the wielder's health is instantly filled by 50% of the player's max health, which can also grant overheal to the player (100 Health for the Soldier, 110 Health to a Soldier with the Battalion's Backup equipped, 88 Health to a Demoman, and 100 Health to a Demoman with the Bootlegger or the Ali Baba's Wee Booties equipped). Like its description suggests, the player can also instantly kill another Soldier or Demoman who's wielding another Half-Zatoichi in one hit, and vice-versa. However, the weapon is Honorbound: if the player attempts to switch away from the sword without killing another player, 50 health will be deducted from the player's current health. If the player is below 50 health points, the weapon can not be holstered until the player gets a kill or they get more health.
As it is considered a sword, the Half-Zatoichi has extended melee range and a longer draw and sheath time, like the other swords for the Demoman. This makes it the Soldier's only weapon with extended melee range other than the Disciplinary Action.
March 10, 2011 Patch (
Shogun Pack)
- The Half-Zatoichi was added to the game.
March 11, 2011 Patch
- Fixed players getting a health bonus based on the weapon they're currently holding instead of the weapon that dealt the killing blow.
March 15, 2011 Patch
- Fixed a server crash caused by using the Half-Zatoichi to hit someone not holding a weapon.
- Fixed the Soldier/Demoman taunts not working correctly when the Half-Zatoichi is the active weapon.
- Fixed a bug where players could switch weapons after deploying the Half-Zatoichi before they killed someone with it.
- The item became tradeable.
- All Half-Zatoichis crafted before this patch have been upgraded to Vintage quality.
- [Undocumented] The Half-Zatoichi was given a unique crafting recipe.
March 21, 2011 Patch
- Updated honor-bound weapons so that they can be holstered within a second of touching a supply cabinet.
April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)
- Fixed taunt kills made with a Katana not counting towards honorbound kills.
- Fixed a bug where killing a Katana wielder with a Katana was incorrectly causing an increased crit chance.
June 3, 2011 Patch
- Added community contributed response rules to the Half-Zatoichi.
June 10, 2011 Patch
- Fixed a problem with honorbound weapons not allowing themselves to be holstered after killing a Spy using the Dead Ringer.
June 23, 2011 Patch (Über Update)
July 7, 2011 Patch
- Fixed a bug with honorbound weapons allowing themselves to be holstered before getting a kill.
July 22, 2011 Patch
- [Undocumented] The honorbound attribute wording was changed from "This weapon is Honorbound and once drawn cannot be sheathed until it kills" to "Honorbound: Once drawn cannot be sheathed until it kills".
October 13, 2011 Patch
- [Undocumented] Added Strange quality.
December 21, 2011 Patch
- Fixed missing forces for Demoman swords.
February 14, 2013 Patch
- Fixed the Half-Zatoichi using the wrong RED team arms skin while on the BLU team.
November 12, 2013 Patch
February 7, 2014 Patch #1
- Fixed the Half-Zatoichi using the wrong animations for the Loadout screen and the HUD 3D Character.
February 7, 2014 Patch #2
- Reverted the changes to the Half-Zatoichi until the effects on the Soldier can be investigated.
December 17, 2015 Patch (Tough Break Update)
- Changed attributes:
- Now considered a sword (increased holster and deploy time and increased range).
- Honorbound changed. Deals 50 self-damage on holster if no kill was made. Cannot be holstered if player is below 50 life and no kill was made.
- 100% life restore on kill changed to 50% health gain on kill that can result in overheal.
- No random crits.
December 18, 2015 Patch
- Fixed the Half-Zatoichi giving more overheal then intended. Max overheal is 1.5x base health.